Archive for the 'Slipknot' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

September 18th, 2010, 12:36 pm by KELLI SKYE FADROSKI, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

It's always exciting to watch a local band do well, especially after it has experienced such a tragedy as Avenged Sevenfold suffered last December, when the Huntington Beach group lost its anchor, drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan. The Uproar Festival's Orange County stop Friday night at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine was the first time the outfit has played here since Sullivan's death -- and the hometown crowd couldn't have been more supportive.

With Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy filling in, the rest of the band -- vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist Synyster Gates and bassist Johnny Christ -- took the stage to a tightly packed audience that welcomed them with open arms.

As they opened with the title track from its first-ever chart-topping album, Nightmare, a stuntman fell from the rafters, hanging from a noose. He was supported by a harness, of course, yet he hung there, limp and lifeless, as Shadows, standing directly below the man's sneakers, belted out the chorus: “You should have known / The price of evil / And it hurts to know that you belong here.” Eventually that hanged figure was taken away by fake doctors on a gurney.

Watching these guys perform Friday night, I weirdly felt like we had grown up together -- and it seemed the majority of the crowd felt the same way. I remember covering Avenged Sevenfold in 2002 when it headlined Chain Reaction in Anaheim; there couldn't have been more than 200 people there. This night, however, nearly 10,000 fans turned out for Uproar, many of them sporting A7X shirts, whether fresh and clean threads sold at tents here or torn and tattered T-shirts purchased from the band's dirty merch table a decade ago.

Sure, Uproar was an all-afternoon rock fest that also featured co-headliner Disturbed along with Stone Sour, Halestorm, Hellyeah and more. But those bands were on Avenged's turf, and fans here roared loudest to some of A7X's old favorites, “Beast and the Harlot” and “Unholy Confessions.” They also seemed to have memorized lyrics to at least a few of the new tracks, including “Welcome to the Family,” “Buried Alive” and “God Hates Us.”

Long before arriving at Irvine's Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Saturday evening for 311's summerUnity Tour 2010, I'd framed up a summary of my impending review: the members of 311, though always compelling performers, proved once again that they'd reached a plateau long ago, producing a performance that has become painstakingly static over the past decade.

The notion came from my experiences catching the Omaha, Neb.-bred band on all but one (2006) summer Unity Tour since the inception of the annual event. The gigs always upheld good vibes, but went from increasingly repetitive to robotic as the band pulled more material from more recently released, generally humdrum albums (2003's Evolver and the 2005 followup Don't Tread on Me), all the while incorporating the same predictable stage antics during every set.

High expectations for Saturday night's show were further stayed by a brief listening session with 311's latest studio effort, Uplifter, which is hokey to the point of absurdity. That said, 311 delivered a show Saturday evening in Irvine that proved not only the potential of their new material in a live, large-scale setting, but also that 20 years into its career, 311 is finally within reach of arena-rock status.

While 311 has always emphasized the element of spectacle at its shows (one can surely expect a full-band, drumline-style percussion break during "Applied Science" and a slap-bass frenzy from P-Nut at the onset of "What Was I Thinking?"), Saturday's concert included a few new features that favored impressive production over music.

Abundant smoke clouds and a grand display of lights continually shrouded guitarist Tim Mahoney, bassist P-Nut, ever-flamboyant MC S.A. Martinez and drummer Chad Sexton, while vocalist/guitarist Nick Hexum took on the role of frontman, addressing his audience from a front-and-center raised platform (much like Slipknot's Corey Taylor) for most of the show.

The Associated Press has discovered more details surrounding the death of Slipknot bassist Paul Gray, including a 911 call from a hotel employee who claimed she saw a hypodermic needle next to his bed and that there were "all kinds of pills everywhere."

TownePlace Suites maintenance worker Mike Kellow told an emergency operator Monday morning that he found 38-year-old Gray's body in a corner of his room slumped against a wall. The dispatcher asked if Gray was awake: “Oh God, no. He's all purple,” Kellow said, adding that it appeared he had been “gone a while.”

Kellow checked on Gray after the bassist's mother called the Urbandale, Iowa, hotel because she couldn't reach her son. Urbandale police Sgt. Dave Disney said Thursday that everything in the hotel room was collected and documented, but he declined to elaborate on what investigators found.

“What was said on the (911) tape is consistent with some things we found in the room, but that's all I'm going to say,” Disney told the AP.

Police have noted no evidence of foul play or trauma. An autopsy was inconclusive about how Gray died, so now the cause of death rests on toxicology tests, which could take up to six weeks.

There aren't many details just yet, but The Associated Press is reporting that Paul Gray, bassist for the masked metal men of Slipknot, has been found dead in an Iowa hotel room.

Police say a hotel employee found the 38-year-old dead in a room Monday at the Town Plaza Hotel in Urbandale, a suburb of Des Moines, the band's hometown. Foul play isn't suspected. The Polk County Medical Examiner's Office plans an autopsy Tuesday.

October 25th, 2009, 11:09 am by DAVID HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Within two hours of the gates opening at Devore's San Manuel Amphitheater, the masses at the second day of the Cypress Hill Smokeout festival already outnumbered the first day's attendees by at least 3-1. There wasn't even music playing on the main stage (Las Vegas rapper Big B was scheduled for the first slot at 2 p.m.), yet swaths of fans were already lining up at the pit entrance.

Yet these early birds weren't dying to see Big B or even Pennywise, which, fronted for the moment by Zoli Teglas (vocalist for O.C. band Ignite), ultimately stood out as one of the event's most powerhouse acts. Judging by the array of matching T-shirts depicting a familiar psychedelic sun logo, most fans arrived so soon primarily to get close to Smokeout's special guest, Sublime.

But by the time the Long Beach legends hit the stage at about 5 p.m. for a much-anticipated (and now legally contested) reunion, the audience was prepped for good vibrations with a half-hour, side-splitting stand-up session from hosts Cheech & Chong, who even had security and staff doubled over with renditions of songs like "Up in Smoke" and "Born in East L.A."

Tommy Chong also took the opportunity to reiterate points he made in a celebrity panel earlier in the afternoon, hosted by former High Times magazine editor Ed Rosenthal. "There are a lot of sick people in this world, and we need our medicine," said Chong during the show, referring to the use of medical marijuana. "To me, boredom is a serious illness." (The groundbreaking comedy duo also announced the launch of a second tour, dubbed Get It Legal.)

October 22nd, 2009, 10:54 am by DAVID HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Given the memorable performances it produces year after year from hip-hop legends like Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest and Nas, the Rock the Bells festival in Devore has earned its reputation these past few years as a sort of rap Mecca –- the Coachella of Hip-Hop, some might say.

This year, however, it has some smokin' competition.

In late August, veteran Southern California stoner-rap outfit Cypress Hill announced the return of its once-annual Smokeout, which this weekend expands to two days, Friday and Saturday at San Manuel Amphitheater (formerly Hyundai Pavilion), bolstered by reunions of Southern old-schoolers Goodie Mob and Geto Boys as well as the official return of Sublime with new singer Rome. Slipknot and Deftones will make Saturday a heavier rock experience; Cypress Hill will perform its 1993 breakthrough Black Sunday in its entirety on Friday, then return the next day with a set of new material (from its coming album Rise Up) and longtime favorites.

B-Real (above), one of Cypress Hill's two MCs, explained in a recent phone interview that the event's six-year hiatus was prompted by the escalation of the Iraq War. But “with all these reunions,” he says, “I think it's magic. We felt like we had enough talent, and people had been wanting Smokeout back for a long time, so we just figured, hey, let's give 'em two days.”

The event differs from previous incarnations by incorporating a great deal more rock, including the first full-blown set from Hermosa Beach punks Pennywise since the departure of frontman Jim Lindberg, as well as a turn from '80s hardcore mainstay Bad Brains. But the addition of those acts, B-Real points out, was just “the luck of the draw.”

September 23rd, 2009, 12:53 am by DAVID HALL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

If charity is your M.O. and music your hobby, then you might want to shell out some cash for two upcoming benefit shows featuring veteran singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow and teen country diva Miley Cyrus -- though they won't be performing together, as they did above, at last week's VH1 Divas show.

Crow, along with supporting acts Ben Harper, Joel & Benji Madden of Good Charlotte, Tom Morello and Jonny Lang, will host the Rock a Little, Feed a Lot benefit for Feeding America on Sept. 29 at Club Nokia. Tickets, $60-$100, are on sale now.

Meanwhile, Cyrus will headline the Concert for Hope -- benefiting cancer research, treatment and education programs at City of Hope cancer treatment center -- Oct. 25 at Nokia Theatrealongside Jesse McCartney and Demi Lovato. Do-gooders and Cyrus fans have a little more leeway for their wallets here, as tickets (on sale Friday, Sept 25, at 10 a.m.) range in price from $59.50-$259.50.

But if pure pleasure (or maybe a hearty laugh) is your aim, R. Kelly's Nov. 5 performance at Nokia might better appeal to your preferences. Those tickets, $54-$89.50, are also on sale Friday at 10 a.m. Another option (if R.Kelly doesn't tickle you enough) at the same venue: the annual end-of-the-year stand from comedian George Lopez, who will perform three nights at the L.A. Live venue, Dec. 18-19 and 27, $55-$89.75.

September 15th, 2009, 12:37 am by BEN WENER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Haven't made any plans for All Hallow's Eve yet, have you?

Good, because one of the best dead man's parties that doesn't involve Phish was just announced: Rob Zombie with Nekromantix, Halloween night at the Hollywood Palladium.

Zombie, one of heavy rock's most unique figures -- who this decade has also become one of the most prolific and highly regarded (and grisly) of horror-film directors -- is turning his attention back to his music career three years after his last album, Educated Horses.

Since then, his best flick, The Devil's Rejects, has become a cult favorite, and his box-office clout has risen dramatically with the success of his re-envisioning of the gruesome Michael Myers saga in Halloweenand the new Halloween II. (He also recently brought his very adult comic book The Haunted World of El Superbeasto to life in his first animated feature, just out on DVD.)

His fourth post-White Zombie effort -- Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool, a sequel of sorts to his solo debut, 1998's Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside the Spookshow International -- is set to drop Nov. 10.

It has been six years since Cypress Hill staged one of its notorious Smokeout festivals -- which, not surprisingly, is about how long it's been since the hip-hop trio has put out an album.

Now both matters are about to be rectified.

The group, which issues a new single ("Get 'Em Up") via iTunes this month, will release its eighth album, Rise Up, later this year ... and coming in late October is the next and easily biggest Smokeout ever assembled.

So big, in fact, that the cannabis expo has been expanded to two days, Oct. 23-24, at San Manuel Amphitheater (formerly Hyundai Pavilion) in Devore.

Cypress Hill will perform along with several heavy hitters from the metal realm, Slipknot and Deftones. (That's vocalist Corey Taylor of the former group in the mask below, from the band's Forum show in March, by Armando Brown.) Equally intriguing are more than a few unexpected reunions, including the return of Goodie Mob (all original members, even Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo), a reunion of Geto Boys (Scarface, Bushwick Bill and Willie D) and a resurrection of Sublime, with a 20-year-old newcomer named Rome replacing the late Bradley Nowell and joining the rhythm section of Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh.